11 July 2025
‘Beep, beep, beep’ booms through the ship’s intercom system, also known as a pipe, as a voice calls out “brace for impact”.
Personnel comply as if it was real, though that’s all part of HMAS Canberra’s unit readiness evaluation.
Sea Training Group, better known throughout the fleet as ‘Green Team’ because of the green brassards they wear on their right sleeve, tests the crew’s readiness with different scenarios.
During the past 10 days on board Canberra, the group has tested the crew on a variety of evolutions – damage-control exercises, man overboard, and flight-deck qualifications with Army’s CH-47 Chinooks and New Zealand’s NH90s helicopters.
The crew also completed dock operations using the light landing crafts (LLC) that are able to dock inside the ship.
One LLC scenario was a non-combative evacuation operation, simulating a humanitarian and disaster relief operation, where personnel were evacuated to the ship for medical treatment. This required a number of role players who threw themselves into the task, preparing the crew for any eventuality.
To achieve this, Canberra also integrated its health team with the embarked Maritime Operational Health Unit, which bolsters the ship’s hospital, adding surgeons, doctors, dentists, physiotherapists and radiographers from all three services. This upgrades Canberra to a Class 2 hospital while at sea.
Commanding Officer Canberra Captain David McPherson said he was pleased with how far the ship had come since the start of their evaluation.
“The ship has to be ready to face any possibility, from fires in compartments to flooding compartments and engineering breakdowns,” Captain McPherson said.
“We are also prepared for a number of heightened states, including force protection and amphibious operations.”
Canberra is now preparing for a major role in Exercise Talisman Sabre.
